Air passengers in Nigeria is set to experience total flight cancellations on Tuesday as the country’s aviation workers’ union threatens to carry out a strike.
This was disclosed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by Com Sikiru Waheed, the General Secretary Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees.
He said the second day of the ongoing strike will be more effective than the first day. The first day of the strike was just a warning to the public and the government that they are serious about their demands.
According to him, “Day two of the strike would be more effective than what you are seeing here now because we only have some leverage today to serve as a warning to other people that are travelling.”
“So people who need to travel tomorrow should please don’t book a flight for tomorrow because it is going to be a total shutdown, it is not going to be like today. By 5:00 am we will be here to shut down everywhere.
“We are appealing to all those that want to travel that they should shove their journey for tomorrow because it may be disrupted. It is a warning for everyone in the public.”
At the Abuja airport, passengers arriving were left stranded due to heavy traffic and a union lockdown of the check-in halls, causing long queues and disrupted vehicular movement.
The entrance to the check-in halls was locked by union officials, leaving many passengers who were scheduled to travel stranded. The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that many of the stranded passengers missed their flights due to the union’s actions.
The situation caused chaos and confusion at the airport, with frustrated passengers voicing their displeasure at the lack of communication and assistance from airport officials.
